Rv accident

[Pricejh]

Please remember to leave lots of space between yourself and the vehicle in front. General rule of thumb, for cars and light trucks is three seconds minimum. At highway speeds it looks like a lot of space, but when everyone is jockeying for position and/or stop in a panic, it is really small.

People tell me that cars will pull in between them and the car in front. To which I say, Big Deal! You got lots of highway behind to back into. Back off the throttle and give yourself some more room.

When we are in our coaches or pulling our trailers, give yourself even more space, four to five seconds. It takes a heck of a lot of space to stop a 20,000 to 50,000 pound rig. Even with the best of brakes.

Last thought, remember, you aren’t paranoid if they really are out to get you. And they really are trying these days.

[Mike_Harriet]

That Dash Cam idea is a great one. We live in S Fla, and during the "season" the drivers Ability level drops dramatically. I've seen three accidents on 41 south In a 12 block span. Love the dash cam idea, I'm ordering one today!!

[PDR John]

Originally Posted by DeWat

This is why one of the very first "mods" to my MH was the addition of a dash cam. I bought a second mount and run it in the 4-wheeler when not RVing.

Please tell me more about your dash cam. Model and where you purchased it, I've been thinking about getting one. Right now I have my GoPro camera set up, but I have to stop and start it.


I try to always leave a 5 second space, but sometimes a car will swoop in 55+ mph almost touching the front of the bus and then hit their brakes. Drives me nuts. If I see them coming I'll start slowing down early, but you don't always see them.

[MJFZ]

Originally Posted by PDR John

Please tell me more about your dash cam. Model and where you purchased it, I've been thinking about getting one. Right now I have my GoPro camera set up, but I have to stop and start it.

I try to always leave a 5 second space, but sometimes a car will swoop in 55+ mph almost touching the front of the bus and then hit their brakes. Drives me nuts. If I see them coming I'll start slowing down early, but you don't always see them.

X2. The GoPro is great on the race car or motorcycle, but not well suited for a dash cam. I saw a TV report about the increase of accidents in Russia and the Dash Cam is becoming the norm for their drivers.

Mike

[topdownman]

This is the dashcam I purchased. It was around $50 bucks on Ebay. That said, I don't have it yet, but it's highly rated for the price:

DVR 027 720p | Dash Cam Talk

[Dr4Film]

With regards to dash cams, I installed one back in late 2011. I use a 32GB disk to record the days driving activities. It will actually record between 8-9 hours worth which is MORE than my typical daily driving time.

If there was something that I wanted to save, I simply transfer the that section of the video to my PC.

I have attached one short clip that I had saved while driving from Fairbanks to Tok last September on our way back to the lower 48.

Here is a lengthy thread about the Dash Cameras.

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f53/dash-camera-101326.html

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[njs42]

Nice camera, excellent video quality. What brand? I think I want to invest a little coin. I ordered one and when it arrive it was really cheap, never made it to my rig.

PS: I tell my wife, I you have to scream be specific, some thing like STOP, or BACKUP, or TRAIN, or MOOSE!!! So she yelled up yours. We laughed. Wish I had it on camera.

[DeWat]

Originally Posted by MJFZ

X2. The GoPro is great on the race car or motorcycle, but not well suited for a dash cam. I saw a TV report about the increase of accidents in Russia and the Dash Cam is becoming the norm for their drivers.

Mike

Rather than telling you about "my" dash cam, it's good to look at what would be good for you. I have found the DashCamTalk website (Dash Cam Talk) to be just as good and educating about dash cams as IRV2 is about RVing! In my opinion, a good judge is how good the night video is because any old camera can shoot duing the day. Unfortunately, the cam that I am running, the iTronics ITB-100HD has doubled in price because the manufacturer cracked the whip on the eBay sellers who were letting them go for very good deals. Another good feature but NOT a must is GPS. The dash cams that I have seen that include GPS will playback the video with a smaller Google Maps insert on the side, so you can even see where you are (GPS is also required to record speed).

EDIT: Another good thing about "Dash Cam Talk" is that they are aware of the knock offs out there, and educate you on how to spot them. A potential buyer on another forum was saved this problem when he almost bought a knock off from Amazon.

[PDR John]

Thanks for all the information everyone.

[BobGed]

I first put a dash cam in my motor home a few years ago, and then after some close calls in my regular vehicles, I installed one in each of those as well. These are just $50 to $75 ones available on eBay from China, but they have held up well.

Here's a link to some video shots: Dash Camera Photos by bobged | Photobucket

[Arctic Owl]

No body said that the accident was caused by brake failure or not adjusted.

I didn't say anybody did, Ninos. I just gave my input & opinion, from many many miles driven on the roads of North America, on what causes or contributes to these types of accidents. Sorry if i mislead you.

Reg

[RustyJC]

Originally Posted by Pricejh

Please remember to leave lots of space between yourself and the vehicle in front. General rule of thumb, for cars and light trucks is three seconds minimum. At highway speeds it looks like a lot of space, but when everyone is jockeying for position and/or stop in a panic, it is really small.

People tell me that cars will pull in between them and the car in front. To which I say, Big Deal! You got lots of highway behind to back into. Back off the throttle and give yourself some more room.

When we are in our coaches or pulling our trailers, give yourself even more space, four to five seconds. It takes a heck of a lot of space to stop a 20,000 to 50,000 pound rig. Even with the best of brakes.

Last thought, remember, you aren’t paranoid if they really are out to get you. And they really are trying these days.

Perhaps you aren't subject to it where you travel, but the LEOs are much more attuned to the "swoop and smash" scam here where another vehicle will swoop in front of you and intentionally brake as hard as possible to incite a collision and then claim bodily injury to all the passengers in the vehicle that was struck. With this scam going on, it's no longer automatic to the investigating authorities that the vehicle that hits another from the rear is at fault.

Rusty

[topdownman]

Great examples of why dash cams are needed. I see this sort of driving daily and have been hit twice by people suddenly changing lanes without looking. One driver tried to blame it on me and said "I" was the one who changed lanes and hit him. The damage made it pretty obvious, but a dash cam would have sure helped.

Originally Posted by BobGed

I first put a dash cam in my motor home a few years ago, and then after some close calls in my regular vehicles, I installed one in each of those as well. These are just $50 to $75 ones available on eBay from China, but they have held up well.

Here's a link to some video shots: Dash Camera Photos by bobged | Photobucket

[Francesca]

Insurance companies must love dash cams... nice for them in the event of a claim to have/get such a perfect record of their customers' driving habits.